


Mistakes

by Ashstrike



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Biotics, F/M, I wrote this at 3am on my mobile google docs, Kadara Port, Reyes’ Room, Riding, Tartarus Club, ryder does some riding, she was super conflicted okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 20:05:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19180471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashstrike/pseuds/Ashstrike
Summary: Artemis Ryder was torn between two top-rate smugglers. Eventually, she gives in to one... and dips into the other’s room too.





	Mistakes

Ryder felt like shit.

Forsaking her morals was not something Ryder did easily, or at all, in truth. Yet as she dismissed Vetra and Peebee to take leave into Kadara Port she couldn’t help the feeling of shame on her shoulders. 

Sloane laid still on the ground, unmoving, and stared at Ryder. There wasn’t a look of betrayal, anger, confusion, or anything that could validate the regret Ryder felt. Just that cold stare of and exile to—no. The cold stare of death from the dying to the living.

Artemis clenched her teeth and stepped into Reyes’ room in Tartarus. The sliding sound of the door closing behind her was all that made a noise for a moment as she stood there, staring at the Charlatan.

“SAM?” 

“Yes, Pathfinder?”

“Why don’t you take some time to yourself for the next hour,” Ryder suggested while looking to Reyes, him only just looking up from his data pad. No doubt organising the downfall of the remaining loyal Outcasts. 

The only hint that her AI has done as she asked was the noise in her head, which hardly reassured the man in front of her. He raised an eyebrow and Ryder waved him off with her hand.

“Well, Pathfinder, I didn’t expect you to be here so soon after that… unfortunate affair.” Reyes set the data pad down onto the table in front of him. It touched a bottle of whiskey with a small clink. 

“Unfortunate for who, exactly?” she shot back.

“Well, seeing as neither one of us is dead… I have Kadara Port and you now have your outpost... I’d say Sloane.” 

There he was, always so quick with some witty or degrading remark to anyone else besides him. They were often both. 

The bass from the club infested the room, resounding between the two with an almost animalistic greed. Reyes had been smiling, his shoulders relaxed and legs crossed. However, seeing Ryder not change her demeanor, he dropped into a more vulnerable one. He reached for the bottle of whiskey, patting the space next to him.

Ryder obliged wordlessly. She sat down next to him and drank in silence, taking off her leather jacket. The bottle passed between their lips several times before either of them relaxed again, simply sharing the moment. Then Ryder opened her mouth finally,

“You’re a fucking bastard.” 

Reyes let out a small chuckle and peered over at her. His eyes were warm with alcohol. His smile was too. Perhaps all of him was warm. Ryder groaned inwardly and sighed, thinking instead of Sid, or Vetra. 

That didn’t work. 

If it had, she wouldn’t have sent Vetra up into the city. She wouldn’t have stepped into Reyes’ room. She wouldn’t have flung herself against him and kissed his damn lips as if it were only a ‘distraction.’

As if right now, she wasn’t leaning against him, sharing a drink with the Charlatan- a man who lied to her and used her for his own end. As if she hadn’t left those lingering looks too, and eyed him back when they thought no one was watching. 

The bottle floated above her hand in place, seemingly hovering—waiting. Reyes held it and was watching her with a small smirk. Just enough to let her know that he’d been watching her internal struggle. Ryder took another swig from the bottle. The metal was cool against her tongue, wet with booze and shared saliva. The bottle was discarded as soon as she emptied it, but Reyes was still regarding her—watching. Always fucking watching. 

He leaned in. His breath was warm and spicy, mixed with desire and alcohol. Ryder tilted her head to meet his slightly. The two watched each other, both powerful figures trying to figure out the other like they had done to their enemies so many times. He smelled warm and inviting. He always smelled nice. Ryder met Reyes’ eyes and leaned into him, locking her lips against his as she threw herself onto him. And not for the first time either. 

The reaction was immediate. Artemis began to cup his neck, Reyes moved her hand to his chest and he leaned over, shoving the table back so they had enough space. He covered her now, his body heat smothering her, all encasing. 

Ryder moved to his shirt and began groping and scratching at his chest. Reyes broke the kiss and moved to her neck, his mouth fixated on her. Ryder shuddered and stretched herself before him. His hands went to her sides and slid downward to cup her ass. He pulled her waist against him and ground into her, his own arousal showing. Ryder panted and pushed against his chest until he withdrew above her with a confused expression. His face glinted with effort as he licked his lips. Ryder stood and reversed their positions and pushed him down onto the couch again. Reyes let out a sigh of relief as Ryder freed him from the confines of his suit. She held him for a moment and regarded Reyes’ demeanor. There he was, the illusive Charlatan, completely enveloped in the pleasure she offered him. He was panting in effort and let out a groan as she released him to undo her own leggings. Reyes’ face was turned from her with his eyes half lidded. Ryder slipped him into her and cupped his cheek to pull his lips to hers again. Reyes’ obliged and placed a hand above her waist as she began to ride him. The other went to her right breast and began palming her, insistent and needy. 

The two moved against each other to the beat of the bass that reverberated into the room and their bones. They grasped at one another, pawing and clawing at skin, they left marks of desire and want—not of love. They joined as one unit, their breath in sync with the release of their kisses and thrusts. Their bodies perfumed the room with sex and greed. He could feel her surround him and she was all his senses could register. Her white hair slick with sweat seemingly silver on her brow. He could feel her fingertips flexing on his scalp, reacting in time with his jerks and thrusts.

The two were not made to resist their pleasures. Reyes finally let out a heady groan, smothered by both Artemis’ kisses and the surrounding music. He jerked beneath her for a few moments before finally relaxing underneath Ryder. The Pathfinder herself leaned back and sped up her thrusts until she climbed into her bliss as well. The air around her seemed to crackle as her biotics seeped into the air as she lost control for a moment. Reyes watched her with fascination, watching how as she came off her high the air around her seemed to recede back into her body. 

Ryder didn’t stay for long. Reyes had caressed her sides and tried to kiss her again before she pushed him down again gently. The man grunted with discontent and arches an eyebrow. “That’s all? You come in here to fuck me and just leave?” 

Ryder let out a small wry smile. “I have someone,” she shot back, pulling her pants up and stepping away from him. 

“You have someone?” Reyes asked incredulously. 

Ryder said nothing, instead opting to wipe her brow and shrug back on her discarded jacket.

“Here, let me ride you into the night Reyes, but hey—‘I have someone.’” There was a small pause as he stood and stepped forward, putting his lips against her ear. “Don’t worry, Ryder. It’ll be our little secret.” 

She shivered underneath his gaze and clenched her teeth. “It’s complicated, Reyes.” 

Artemis looked at him and matched his gaze and intensity, putting on her Pathfinder persona. 

“But let me make this clear: I haven’t chosen you. I’ve made my choice, Reyes. You’re not it.” She met his gaze with a level stare. Then she turned on her heel and walked out. 

He watched her leave with a smile, knowing that he’d made his choice too.


End file.
